There are three essential components to creating a podcast studio:
• Choosing a space for the studio and adequately soundproofing the space
• Buying and/or renting the necessary pieces of equipment for recording your podcast.
• Creating an editing setup for the post-production stage of your podcast.
However, there is a fourth element too, namely, choosing a hosting service to publish your podcast. Now, this last element is not an inherent part of a podcast studio setup. All the same, this is a crucial component of your overall podcast creation endeavor and as such, requires adequate consideration and research on the part of the podcaster.
Now, in this article, we will discuss the last two elements mentioned above, i.e. creating an editing setup for your podcast studio and choosing the right podcast hosting service in order to properly publish and promote the podcasts you create. TAKE NOTE that this article concerns Audio Podcasts only. For video podcasts, you’ll need different publishing channels as well as a different editing setup.
Podcast Studio Editing Setup
An editing setup these days equates to having a piece of good editing software installed on your computer. Now, most beginner and intermediate podcast creators do not need any heavy-duty editing software for the post-production process. However, if you do decide to invest in a heavy-duty software, make sure that your computer is equipped to handle it. In other words, check the system requirements for the software before you buy or subscribe to it.
Now, come to editing, it is no secret that few people actually enjoy editing their recorded material/episodes. All the same, post-production is crucial when it comes to producing good sound quality and for creating a complete and finished episode out of your recorded material. So, you’ll need to work on things like removing background noises, polishing the sound (by removing errors and managing other glitches such as reverbs and echoes), adjusting volume levels, slicing in your planned outros, intros, adds, etc.
In short, there is a lot of work involved and accordingly, you’ll need to choose an editing software that comes with a simple interface, simpler workflows and a host of different features that help you create better sound.
Now, when it comes to audio editing software, you have a host of options available to you these days. Among them, some of our favorites include:
• Audacity
• Logic Pro X
• Adobe Audition
• GarageBand
• Descript
• Hindenburg Systems
Many of these and other systems offer both a free and a paid version. And the best part is that the free versions actually work sufficiently well for most beginner podcasters. Paid versions, on the other hand, come with some extra features that may come handy depending on the particular requirements of a situation.
For example, the free version of Audacity, one of the most popular audio editing software at current, features all the basic tools that you’ll commonly require during post-production. However, with the paid version, you’ll have access to certain additional podcasting tools, effects and to licensed music. Now, some podcasters may need these latter tools and then there are others who do not.
So, make sure to check what is in the offing (both for free and paid versions) when you are researching your options. That said, according to our experience, the Audacity free version packs just about enough features to make it more than an adequate editing tool for beginner, intermediate, and for many professional podcasters as well.
Audio Podcast Hosting Services
Now that you have the finished product on hand, it’s time to choose an appropriate platform for publishing your podcast. Your podcast host helps broadcast your creation to the world and accordingly, helps you gain an audience and monetize your podcasts. As such, you need to give adequate consideration when choosing your host. At current, some of the best audio podcast hosting services include:
• Podbean
• Blubrry
• Transistor
• BuzzSprout
• LibSyn
Like the editing software packages, most of these hosting services offer both free and paid hosing services. Depending on the host, the free version may come with different limitations such as limits on storage, bandwidth, download, etc. So, again, make sure to research well before subscribing to the audio podcast host of your choice.